Rail bond terminal



Nov. 5, 1935l N. c. sl-IAVER RAIL BOND TERMINAL Filed om.l 5, 1954 /f .wQN m, o C A Patented Nov. 5, 1935 UNiTED srrs erster orties RAIL BONDTERMINAL Application October 5, 1934, Serial No. 746,963

4 Claims.

In modern railway track construction the ends of aligned rails areelectrically bonded together.

In standard steam railway practise the bond 'is usually located abovethe rail bases, the cable be- 5 ing frequently protected against injuryby the fish plate which bridges the rail ends. The relatively closespacing of the cross ties renders the positioning of the bond beneaththe rail bases impractical.

However, in light railway construction, such as for instance in mines,where the cross-ties or rail supports generally are spaced farther apartand where derailments are relatively frequent so that an exposed bond isliable to injury by contact with l5 the wheel flanges, it is consideredpreferable to install the rail bonds beneath the bases of the rails sothat the latter will protect the bonds from injury. Y

It is the present practise among manufacturers of rail bonds to providedifferent types of bonds for installation above the rail bases andbeneath the rail bases, respectively, and thus a rail bond designed tobe installed above the rail'bases cannot be installed beneath thelatter, and vice versa.

An important object of the present invention is the provision of areversible rail bond which may be installed either above or beneath therail bases with equal facility and which will be eiiicient in eitherposition.

- Another object which I have in View is the provision of a betterdegree of conductivity between the rails and the copper cable whichforms the intermediate portion or body of the rail bond.

Other objects will be apparent from the following description.

The first mentioned object I attain by means of the novel structure andshape of the terminals of my improved bond, such terminals being sodesigned that in either position, to locate the cable either aboveor'beneath the rail bases, a satisfactory electrical connection with therail base is provided and furthermore, suii'icient provision is made forthe proper welding of the terminal t-o the rail base. By means of myimproved terminals I get a much better electrical connection between thebond and the rails.

The second mentioned object I also attain by bu'tt-welding the end ofthe cable to the termi- 5 nals so that there is goo-d electricalconduction between the rails and the cable.

Other novel features of construction, and also of arrangement of parts,will appear from the following description:

55 In the accompanying drawing, wherein I have illustrated a practicalembodiment of the principles of my invention,

Fig. 1 is a perspective showing the rail bond installed above the basesof two aligned rails.

Fig. 2 is a similar View showing my rail bond r5V reversed and locatedbeneath the rail bases.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3 3 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a detail in longitudinal section showing the connection of theend of the cable to the ter- 10 minal.

Fig. 5 is a perspective of one sleeve blank which is bent up and clampedabout the end of the cable before butt-welding the cable to the end ofthe' terminal, the View also illustrating in dotted lines 15` thebent-up sleeve clamped on the end of the conductor.

Referring to the drawing, Iand 2 represent aligned rails whose ends abutand are to be electrically bonded. 3 represents the fish plates 20 whichconnect the rail ends together and are bolted in place through the websof the rails.

The rail bond comprises the intermediate flexible conductor 4, usuallyof copper, and in the form of a plurality of helically wound wire 25strands.

The ends of the conductor 4 are electrically and mechanically connectedto the two terminals 5 by means of which the bond is installed toelectrically bridge the rail joint. These terminals 30 may be made ofany suitable metal having the requisite conductivity, but I prefer touse for this purpose castings formed of malleable steel.

The structure' of these terminals is of the utmost importance, as I soconstruct them that they 35 may be mounted on the base of the rail asshown in Fig. 1, or they may be reversed and mounted as shown in Fig. 2with the same eflicient results and with the same facility.

The body of the terminals is composed of two 40 outwardly convergingwings or sides 6 and 'l which merge at their inner side edges into thearcuate bridge portion 8 The cross section of the body of the terminalis substantially U- shaped with two diverging sides which aresymmetrical in respect to va plane bisecting their included angle. Theinner faces of these wings are plane and their outward divergence is atthe proper angle so that they may be wedged by driving onto the edge ofthe rail base either in the disposal shown in Fig. l, or that shown inFig. 2. By providing the proper angle between the terminal wings, thebond may be preliminarily installed on the rail bases in proper positionand will hold its position while the welding is accomplished.

The outer side edges 9 of the wings Ii and I are substantially straightlines as are also the outer end edges IIJ of said wings. The outer edges9 may be used for welding the terminal to the flange of the raillongitudinally of the latter. The edges 9 and I9 are preferably disposedat substantially right angles to each other.

The terminals, with the ends of the conductor 4 connected thereto, arefirst wedged on the rail, either as shown in Fig. l, or reversed asshown in Fig. 2, and then the edges 9 and I0 of the uppermost wing,shown as 6 in Fig. 1, and as I in Fig. 2, are welded to the uppersurface of the rail base throughout substantially' their full lengths,thus not only firmly and rigidly attaching the terminals to the railbases but also effecting a union which provides eicient electricalconductivity.

This welding may, and preferably is, accomplished by the arc-method withadded metal. For the sake of clearness in illustrating the elements, Ihave not shown the added metal but the same will be readily understoodby those having practical acquaintance with the art.

It will be noted that the two wings 6 and I are of substantially thesame area and have corresponding edges 9 and I0 of substantially equallength, so that, when the edges 9 and II) of the Wing 6 or the wing 1,whichever happens to be located above rail, are welded to the rail base,the terminal is attached to the rail with equal rigidity and permanence.

In attaching the terminals 5 to the ends of the conductor 4 I prefer tocut the end of the conductor off square and clamp around said end astrip of metal II, similar to that of which the terminals are formed,whose opposite ends may be formed with dovetail or complementaryportions I2 and I3, which serve to hold the ends of the strip togetherwhen the strip is bent up andclamped about the end of the conductor 4,as illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 5. When the sleeve I I is thusclamped about the end of the conductor, the end of the conductor and theouter end of the sleeve are substantially flush.

Turning now to the terminals 5, it will be noted that each is providedwith a boss I4 of cylindraceous shape cast or otherwise formed integralwith the inner end portion of one of the wings, such as 6, the bossbeing cylindraceous for a portion thereof and then tapering into andmerging with the surface of the side and presenting at the inner end ofthe terminal a flat substantially circular surface against which, inmanufacturing the bond, the sleeved end of the conductor 4 and the endof the encircling metal sleeve are snugly held and butt-weldedpermanently in place. The welding edge 9 of the side of the terminalwhich carries the boss I4 extends only part way along the terminal,terminating substantially at the end of the boss.

To provide clearance for conveniently welding the edge 9 of the wing 6to the rail base when the terminal is in the position shown in Fig. 1,the inner end of the boss I4 merges in an arcuate and inclined mannerinto the outer face of said wing.

If desired, any other convenient method of attaching the ends of theconductor 4A to the terminals 5 may be employed, many types of suchattachments being known and illustrated in the prior art, but I preferthe type of attachment above described.

I claim:-

1. A rail bond terminal which is reversible on the rail flange wherebyto place the bond oonductor either above or below the flange as may bedesired, comprising a member of substantially U-shaped cross sectionwith two diverging sides, and means for connecting the conductor to oneof said sides, each side being provided with a substantially straightedged surface longitudinally of the rail flange for welding the terminalto said flange.

2. A rail bond terminal which is reversible on the rail flange wherebyto place the bond conductor either above or below the flange as may bedesired, comprising a member of substantially U-shaped cross sectionwith two diverging sides, an integral boss at one end of one of saidsides for connecting a conductor thereto, said boss being cylindraceousfor a portion thereof and then tapering into and merging with thesurface of said side, and a welding edge surface on each side extendinglongitudinally of said terminal and on one side between the end of thetaper of said boss and the other end of said side.

3. A rail bond terminal which is reversible on the rail flange wherebyto place the bond conductor either above or below the flange as may bedesired, comprising a member of substantially U-shaped cross sectionwith two diverging sides which are symmetrical in respect to a planebisecting their included angle, and means for connecting a conductor toone of said sides, said sides being provided with substantially straightedges longitudinal of the rail for welding to the rail flange.

4. A rail bond terminal which is reversible on the rail flange wherebyto place the bond conductor either above or below the flange as may bedesired, comprising a member of substantially U-shaped cross sectionwith two diverging sides which are symmetrical in respect to a planebisecting their included angle, and means for connecting a conductor toone of said sides, said sides being provided with substantially straightedges longitudinally of the rail for welding to the rail flange, theangle between said diverging sides being less than the angle between thesurfaces of the rail flange to permit the bond terminal to t snugly onthe rail flange when in either of its reversed positions.

NORTH C. SHAVER.

